Is it possible to have a tsunami in Brazil? We explain the phenomenon

In recent hours it was reported that a volcano on the African coast could erupt, bringing a risk of tsunami in Brazil. But are there really any real chances of such a phenomenon occurring, or do we experience another day of mass hysteria in 2021? Showmetech explains what's really going on, and clarifies the facts about the volcano.

What is happening?

After Spanish authorities issued an alert, the MetSouth, a website focused on meteorological and climatic events in Brazil, revealed information about a possible eruption of the volcano Old Summit, located on the African coast on the island of La Palma. The structure had not registered any type of activity for decades, but it has recently started to show dangerous behavior.

The volcano has reached yellow alert, also known as Phase 2. When it comes to occurrences of this type, experts analyze the potential danger of the situation through 4 Phases. At the current level, the population is instructed to pay attention and more studies are being carried out. THE Phase 3 concerns the imminent possibility of eruption, while the last level is already an eruption in progress.

O Old Summit started to increase its level of earthquakes in recent days, with about 100 tremors recorded and gradually increasing in intensity. Although most people believe that a volcano has that classic cone shape with lava coming out of the top, things go through an earlier stage.

To explain the relationship between a volcano and the possible tsunami in Brazil, we need to understand part of its functioning. specifically the Old Summit is having a magmatic intrusion. In simple terms, imagine the volcano as a mountain. Inside this mountain there are several passages, like the plumbing of a building. These pipes are the magma ducts: fissures through which molten rock (magma) leaves the Earth's interior to reach the surface.

Now, think that this large amount of magma is at a very high temperature and full of force, wanting to go to the surface. However, these fissures meet the top of the mountain, which is completely closed by the rocks that make it up. In this case, if the pressure and force of the magma is too strong and the volcanic activity is powerful, the magma will exert a force that “breaks” the tip of the mountain, giving rise to the eruption.

Furthermore, in most cases the real danger of an eruption is not the lava, but the black smoke that comes out of the crater. Also called a pyroclast, this cloud of dark ash is at a high temperature and is extremely toxic. In the explosion of Mount Vesuvius, which caused the destruction of the city, the inhabitants died “petrified” by the event.

Also, it is important not to confuse magma with lava. Magma refers to the molten rock inside the planet, which when it overflows, turns into lava, as its internal chemical composition is altered by a number of factors. Magma has an ability to transit through much of the Earth's center due to its convective motions. Imagine a pot of boiling water, and notice that the hotter it gets, the more the water moves in cycles. In the depths something similar happens, which makes the magma rise and fall.

Should this sequence of events happen, there is a probability of triggering a tsunami. This happens because the force of the eruption is so great that it releases a gigantic charge of energy to the island, a huge tremor. This tremor could be a strong seismic tremor capable of developing gigantic waves in the Atlantic Ocean.

The tsunami in Brazil

The history of a tsunami in Brazil is hypothetical. These are several theories of researchers and specialists in the field. For Mauro Gustavo Reese Filho, a geologist graduated from the Federal University of Paraná, the Old Summit could be the catalyst for this type of phenomenon, even though the Atlantic is not known for this type of event. Other authors, as reported in the original article of the metsul, point out that the chances are minimal and very rare to occur, with very few records found.

If it happened, the most affected part would be the coast of Africa, although all of America could be affected. In Brazil, it is speculated that the regions with the greatest impact would be the coastal strips of the North and Northeast.

“It is estimated that the next eruption could destabilize the slope of the island due to factors such as the slope of the volcano, volume of material mobilized, climatic factors and, mainly, to an existing weakness zone that will facilitate the occurrence of mass movement [...] movement, in turn, could be capable of generating a tsunami that will travel transatlantic distances and that will reach practically all the countries bathed by the Atlantic Ocean. From the modeling of such an event, information was obtained that the entire Brazilian coast will be affected…”

Mauro Gustavo Reese Filho, Effects on the Brazilian coast caused by volcanic processes and
Mass movements on the island of La Palma

For now, we must be calm, as there is no confirmation of any tsunami in Brazil. However, we emphasize that yes, there is a possibility, but extremely remote, for this phenomenon to occur. The big question that remains, with experts pondering this issue for years, is: would Brazil be prepared to protect itself from situations like this?

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Source: metsul